Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen will both testify in upcoming hearings on the repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell', Politico reports. Said Gates: "We're discussing the timing of it with the committee. Both the chairman and I will testify."

There's troubling information in a report on the intensification of talks over the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal today in the NYT:

Despite the uncertainty of timing, another military official said that
the Department of Defense was beginning to look at the practical
implications of a repeal — for example, whether it would be necessary
to change shower facilities and locker rooms because of privacy
concerns, whether to ban public displays of affection on military bases
and what to do about troops who are stationed or make port calls in
nations that outlaw homosexuality.

Also, the memo to the Joint Chiefs which was "leaked" yesterday calling for holding off on a repeal was not just a memo, it was a draft proposal.

Americablog notes: "It's disturbing that the Pentagon is even talking about this, first of
all because gays and lesbians are already in the Pentagon's showers and
barracks. So this is a non-issue. The fact that the Pentagon doesn't
realize this is simply bizarre. Second, why are we still talking about
showers – what is this, 1993? And third, Barack Obama's Pentagon is
actually discussing whether an African-American president should
endorse the "separate but equal" segregation of a minority? Seriously?"

Kerry Eleveld reports on a secret emergency DADT meeting attended by 20-25 LGBT advocates at Human Rights Campaign headquarters on Monday:

The two-hour long meeting was unusual in that it assembled the advisers
to major LGBT political donors from outside the Beltway such as Tim
Gill, Jon Stryker and David Bohnett alongside DC-based lobby groups
such as HRC, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, the Center for
American Progress, and The Palm Center as well as lobbyists with ties
to the White House and Congress.

Attendees reported that "strong signals" and threats of "repercussions" had been sent to the White House. Others reported that they had been guaranteed DADT was a top priority for Obama. Some were concerned that top-level staff in the White House was lacking an LGBT power broker.

Sources also indicated the ball is really in the White House's court at
this juncture. “They will be the ones who tell us how they're going to
package this,” said one source.

Those options might include:
the President and the Pentagon recommending that the policy change be
included in the Department of Defense authorization bill that comes out
of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees; amending repeal to
the Defense funding bill once it has been reported out of committee;
passing stand-alone repeal legislation in both chambers; or tabling the
issue for a later date.